The most helpful favorable review

The most helpful critical review

4.0 out of 5 starsGet them at Home Depot
There are several assorted sizes of these exact same clamps at Home Depot. I picked up some 6 inchers than I like better.

Published on December 10, 2011 by Duane Rumback

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 starsWork Great, Till They Break, Then They Shoot Your Model In the Face.
I've used my clamps a total of 4 times for simple 20min-1 hour gigs clamping cloth backgrounds to wires. 2 days ago I used them to clamp on to small PVC 1/4" pipe. Far from taxing their abilities... or so I thought. After about 2 hours of being clamped to the pipe one of the clamps suddenly snapped at the joint sending the 2 halves of the clamp missile-style in either...

I've used my clamps a total of 4 times for simple 20min-1 hour gigs clamping cloth backgrounds to wires. 2 days ago I used them to clamp on to small PVC 1/4" pipe. Far from taxing their abilities... or so I thought. After about 2 hours of being clamped to the pipe one of the clamps suddenly snapped at the joint sending the 2 halves of the clamp missile-style in either direction, one leaving a chip of paint out of my wall and the other hitting my model in the face. While we were dealing with that, less than an hour later we came back to the room to figure out something new and apparently while we were out, another one had done the same thing! I'm lucky she's not going to sue me. I probably would if I were in her place for the photographer being so stupid as to buy these pieces of junk.(I'll post pictures of the pipe and the broken pieces so you can see how little it takes for them to break)

Sure, they're clamps. They do what they say. They also tend to shatter along the inner curve of one side, sending chunks of plastic and whatever they might have been holding in all directions. So far only two have failed, and all I have used them for are the clamping of fabrics to narrow wooden edges. Going to be careful what I use them for, and get my next batch at the hardware store where I can see the quality before I buy...

3 of them cracked and broke at the clamps pivot point within 2 uses. This was nor stretching the jaws to the limit either, simple 1" clamping of reflectors to shelving. Save your money, not worth the aggravation.

So far, two of the six have broken with normal use holding a green screen sheet secure. Not a challenging or taxing task. They failed! You'll be better off buying better quality clips if you want something that will last and not leave you stranded.

I bought these clamps on January 6th 2013. I believe I received the clamps on January 9th. Which was fast for me I'll be honest. It is now January 18th 2013 and two of the clamps have broken. What I did was set up my green screen on a home built stand of PVC pipe. The PVC pipe is 1" in diameter. The clamps (all 6) had been holding my screen taut since January 12th. So not even a full week later, and 2 of these have broken. Not only that, but they appear to have flown across the room. They break at the handle and can't maintain a hold. Completely worthless. I wish the rating would have been lower on these things to have prevented me from buying in the first place.

Six clips are marginally sufficient to provide three tension points along each side of a 6' wide by 9' high muslin backdrop but 8 or 10 clips would allow more even tension and fewer wrinkles.One of the six clamps arrived with a broken plastic clamp. I'll revise my review after I see how the vendor handles my request for a replacement.Ten days passed and I'm downgrading my review for two reasons: 1). The vendor did not respond to my request for a replacement of one clip that was broken on arrival. 2). Walmart sells the exact same clips in their hardware department under the "ULTRASTEEL" brand for less. They offer a 4-piece pack for four bucks and a mixed size 16-piece set for seven fifty. The various sized in the 16-piece set allow for more clamps on poles of various thicknesses.

Very happy to get them, opened the box and started to use them on my light box, One broke in my hand. And the second one broke after it was set, and went flying across the room. Glad I was the only one in the studio at the time.